Cooking Class

     Last night half the group went to the BCF office where we were initiated into the secrets of Bhutanese cooking.  No sugar, no sweets.  Lots of chillies. We ate dhal, red rice, a curry of vegetables including green beans, peas, cauliflower, a potato, chilli and cheese based dish (kewa datse) and sag or mustard greens.  Every dish had chillies in it (except the rice).  There was also a salad that consisted of chilies, tomatoes and datse (cheese). 
Ema datse is the national dish - chilies and dried cottage like cheese.  

    
     It was a fantastic meal - really delicious.  Even though the food has been good and some of the restaurants excellent, home made food is so much better!  Especially with expert cooks:)  The kewa datse was so creamy and the spices in the curries were perfect - just enough to have a bit of curry taste, but really the dominant flavour was the vegetables.  
    I apologize for the quality of my photos.  I am having some battery issues at the present time.  Hoping to get a new battery tomorrow. 

National dress - me in my Kira. 
The skirt wraps and folds around you and is tied at the waist with a belt that reminds me of the "ceinture fléchée" of Bonhomme Carnaval.  I got "cheater" kira that have velcro and a hook.  The other ones looked too complicated for teaching.  The top is a bit boxy - room for warm clothing underneath.  Much more comfortable to wear than I had anticipated and warm too as the folds in the front give you 3 layers of fabric. 

Here are photos of Senge and Remie - Senge is a monk who is originally from England and Remie is the 2 year old Australian boy.